Sprint Nextel Corp. shareholders approved a $21.6 billion deal with Tokyo-based SoftBank Corp., agreeing to give the Japanese company control of the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier after an eighth-month saga.

About 98 percent of the votes cast favored the transaction, Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said Tuesday in a statement. SoftBank, which has three of the four regulatory approvals needed to do the Sprint deal, still requires a final nod from the Federal Communications Commission.

The shareholder decision ends a takeover contest that saw a $25.5 billion counteroffer from satellite-television provider Dish Network Corp., a special agreement to appoint a national security representative to the company’s board and a bidding war for control of Clearwire Corp. — a wireless Internet service provider half-owned by Sprint.

For SoftBank president Masayoshi Son, the 61st-richest person in the world, the approval brings him a step closer to his goal of turning SoftBank into the world’s largest carrier. Fellow billionaire, Charlie Ergen, Dish’s chairman, had challenged Son for control of Sprint, only to abandon the plan last week after SoftBank sweetened its offer.

“We are pleased to have the support of Sprint shareholders,” SoftBank said in an e-mailed statement. “We look forward to receiving FCC approval and promptly completing the transaction so that we can begin implementing our plans to deploy an advanced Sprint network that supports innovative devices and service packages tailored to the rapidly expanding mobile needs of U.S. consumers. “

Son will serve as chairman of Sprint after the deal closes, with SoftBank Holdings Inc. President Ron Fisher becoming vice chairman.

“Today is a historic day for our company, and I want to thank our shareholders for approving this transformative merger agreement,” Sprint Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse in the statement.

Sprint initially forged a deal with SoftBank in October, agreeing to sell 70 percent of the company for $20.1 billion. Douglas County-based Dish offered $25.5 billion for Sprint in April, though its terms were structured differently and not directly comparable to SoftBank’s price. Dish also never submitted a firm enough bid to be “actionable,” Sprint said last month.

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